NC woman: seriously injured by horse at Asheville Airbnb owned by bank fraudster
A Mecklenburg County woman is suing after she said she was horribly injured by a horse at an Asheville area short-term rental owned by a notorious bank fraudster.
Stephanie Bantle filed the March 22 lawsuit in Buncombe County Superior Court against Airbnb Inc. and Shawn Johnson, the owner of a large STR business who in 2023 was sentenced to nearly eight years for $3.5 million in bank fraud. He is appealing part of a $2.8 million money judgement. Prior to his conviction, Johnson had lost his real estate license after multiple property owners said he bilked them in STR schemes.
Bantle is suing for a currently unspecified amount to cover punitive damages, pain and suffering, medical expenses and other harms she suffered after the loose horse bit her face, tore off her ear and "shook her head and spine so violently that she suffered serious and permanent injuries to her neck and back," her lawyer Chase Keibler of South Carolina wrote in the complaint.
Johnson and Airbnb had not filed responses to the suit as of April 17.
The Citizen Times reached out to Airbnb. Johnson could not be reached. He had been in the Cherokee County Jail during post-sentencing proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in Asheville. He was last listed as being in the Laurel County Jail in London, Kentucky, where he was held in transit until his April 16 release into the custody of U.S. Marshals. A spokesperson for the marshals did not immediately respond to a question about his location.
Bantle said Johnson was responsible for allowing the horse to run loose on the property and that Airbnb should have checked Johnson's background and seen his criminal record that included a 2010 federal conviction for counterfeiting.
"Defendant Airbnb has an obligation not to permit dangerous or reckless hosts to invite individuals to properties," the suit says.
Airbnb listed Johnson as a "Superhost," the suit said.
Bantle said she arrived at the "Big Red" tiny house rental on Velvet Ridge Lane west of Asheville on Nov. 2, 2022. The next day she woke up and discovered an unsecured horse on the property outside any gated area, according to the suit. "The loose horse, without provocation, attacked (her) and bit her ear and face, resulting in significant and permanent injury."
"She specifically recalls the 'crunch' of her ear when the horse first took hold," the suit says, describing her injuries as horrific, permanent and preventable and resulting in scarring on her face and the need for one surgery and possibly more.
Property records show Johnson's limited liability company Stay Asheville got ownership of the tiny house in 2018 for $553,500 from Nationstar Mortgage.
The property no longer belongs to Johnson but it is still on Airbnb. The house and property were bought by a couple through their limited liability company in the fall of 2023 at a courthouse foreclosure for $754,500, according to a representative of their LLC and county records.
The Airbnb description asks guests to "enjoy this space responsibly and respect our farm animals' living spaces, especially the horse pasture and chicken area which guests should not enter. You are welcome to pet our friendly animals!"
The representative of Built Together LLC who messaged the Citizen Times through Airbnb said they did not know about the incident with Bantle and were trying to observe best practices.
"Our animals are insured, and we do not allow guests in animals' pens or pastures. We would like to keep all of our guests and animals safe," they said.
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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC woman: badly hurt by horse at Asheville Airbnb owned by fraudster
